‘I felt ashamed to walk’

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You are the director of Kites. Why were you not walking the red carpet at Cannes with Hrithik Roshan, Rakesh Roshan and Barbara Mori?

It’s not that they didn’t want to take me. Rather I decided not to go. There were some personal reasons for not going there.

Why don’t you share the reasons with us?

I will walk the red carpet respectfully if and when my film is selected for competition. I really feel strongly about this. We Indians go and walk the red carpet and the media makes so much of brouhaha about which Bollywood is wearing what and all that but none of our films are inside. I think the last time was in 1994 when our film was shown in an auditorium in Cannes. I felt ashamed to walk there. Also, I wanted to make most of my Cannes visit by not only promoting Kites but by also meeting producers and financiers from different parts of the world. So, my priority was that… not to walk the red carpet.

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Akshay needs to start worrying!

There’s something about Akshay Kumar these days that has made many industry insiders cringe. His arrogance, they say, has cost producers a lot of money. And now, we are told, it is Akshay’s turn.

2009 may not be as blissful a year for Akshay Kumar as the previous two years. Ironically, it was also supposed to be the year he had most meticulously planned.

If insiders are to be believed, Akshay had all intentions of staying in the limelight throughout the year. As a result he had hoped to have at one film releasing at regular intervals.

With Chandni Chowk to China being the first big release of the year hit the screens in January, 8×10 Tasveer released in April – within about three months. It’s another matter that neither did well leaving Akshay Kumar somewhat in the lurch.

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Movies lined up the next 7 months

A-Lister’s biggies:

- Kambakht Ishq
- Kites
- Blue
- 3 Idiots
- De dhana dhan

B-Lister’s biggies:

- Kaminey
- Love Aaj Kal
- Wanted
- Main aur Mrs Khanna
- London Dreams
- Veer
- Paa

The gen-X hopes:

- New York
- Santoshi’s next with Ranbir (azab/gazab kahani or something)
- Its my life
- Wake up Sid
- Whats your rashee?
- Lucky Singh/Rocket Singh (or is it something else?)
- Delhi Belly

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First look: Pyaar Impossible

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Anupam Kher comes full circle

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It’s the first time in the world,” emphasised Anupam Kher, as he celebrated his silver innings in the Hindi film industry. Indeed, watching Saaransh, the taut Mahesh Bhatt film which turned a non-entity from Shimla into a much-feted celebrity, at a ‘premiere’ 25 years after its release was a strange first-time experience.

It turned the word ‘premiere’ on its head — a premiere show is supposed to be the first public screening of a film. Everything about a premiere glitters — the screening of Saaransh was just the opposite. At 4 ’clock on a lazy Sunday afternoon, nothing can glitter. Even the print, exhausted with overuse, was faded and fatigued. It was a premiere where nostalgia overruled newness.

Anupam had gone to great pains to make it a memorable celebration. Apart from personal invitations, the staff at Metro was trained to welcome with a namaste, Barjatya-style. Few would remember that it was the traditional Tarachand Barjatya’s Rajshri banner that had backed Saaransh 25 years ago, a fact that Mahesh Bhatt appreciated at Anupam’s ‘premiere.’

“Can you imagine,” Bhatt held forth during interval, “that Tarachandji, such a traditional man, backed such a film 25 years ago? He’d asked me, young man, are you trying to say that rishis and sadhus are all fakes? I said, yes, sir. But he still backed me. Saaransh went totally against the Rajshri genre.” Twenty five years ago, the Rajshri banner was only known for small, cute films like Amol Palekar’s Chit Chor or Nadiya Ke Paar and an impressive name like Sooraj Barjatya was still to make his mark in Hindi cinema. A very young Sooraj was up there with dad Rajkumar Barjatya in old, nostalgia-filled photographs that were put up all over Metro.

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Blast from the past: Rosenbaum reviews The Nun.

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THE NUN

**** (Masterpiece)

Directed by Jacques Rivette

Written by Jean Gruault and Rivette

With Anna Karina, Liselotte Pulver, Micheline Presle, Christianne Lenier, Jean Martin, and Francisco Rabal.

While it’s certainly regrettable that it’s taken Jacques Rivette’s controversial second feature 24 years to get distributed in this country in its complete and original form, there’s also something felicitous about its finally becoming available in an era when censorship of the arts is again on the warpath. Delays of various kinds have been central to the history of this potent if surprisingly chaste film, and there were comparable delays between the year Denis Diderot finished the novel that the film is based on (1760) and its actual appearance in print (1780-82 in serial form, and 1796–12 years after Diderot’s death–in the first printed edition).

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Is SRK working with Murugadoss?

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After teaming up with Aamir Khan in the hit movie “Ghajini”, Tamil director director Murugadoss now wants to work with Shah Rukh Khan
and says he is working on a story right now.

“Yes, I’m working on a subject. I had a meeting with Shah Rukh Khan once and I discussed a story with him. But frankly nothing has been finalised. We are still to meet many a times before a decision is taken,” Murugadoss told reporters Monday at the launch of new Kannada film “Suryakanthi”.

Murugadoss’ “Ghajini”, a remake of a Tamil hit, grossed about Rs.250 crore.

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Last 20 Years – Filmfare Best Film Award, Actor wise

Here is the Actor wise Best Film Award at FilmFare ( in descending form).

I thought it would give a different prespective to star of last decade or two.

Ps: This list concludes nothing, just serves as a reference to stir some thoughts. Its just an effort(taking into account large amount of non-faith people have in these popular awards)

1. Aamir Khan ( 7 Movies)

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1989)

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Hrithik Roshan is the new face of Reliance Mobile

Mumbai, May 30: Heartthrob Hrithik Roshan has become the new face of Reliance Mobile. The actor will now be seen endorsing Reliance`s mobile and DTH business, and the promotional campaign for the same is presently being shot in Bangkok.

According … Read More

Salman Khan and Sohail Khan in Chlormint Ad

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John Abraham and Akshay Kumar learn Pole dancing!

John Abraham and Akshay Kumar Pole Dancing? May 28 2009 10:45 PST

So this next bit of news just might be every Bollywood fan girl’s fantasy come true! Picture this – the sexy John Abraham and Akshay Kumar shaking their … Read More

Saif & I respect my past: bebo

Saif & I respect my past: bebo
30 May 2009, 0040 hrs IST, Jaya Drona

Kareena Kapoor is hard to get, there’s no glossing over that. But once you do have her – in a manner of speaking, like DT did when she came to Delhi a couple of days ago – this girl keeps her word, keeps her cool and keeps her wits about her.

She honoured her promise to take time out for a chat at Le Meridien, and in that chat, there were no unanswered questions, no matter how personal the subject. Bebo’s in a happy bubble of her own, it seems.

She doesn’t mind questions on Shahid Kapur, for instance. Do Shahid conversations make her unhappy? “Not at all!” Bebo smiles serenely. “And that’s because I respect my past. Both Saif and I respect my past. Shahid is a wonderful human being and it’s extremely sad that things couldn’t work out. I don’t think that there’s anything much to say, but the fact is that I’ve been left with some wonderful memories. I’ll cherish them forever,” says Kareena. So she doesn’t think much about rumours linking Shahid to his female co-stars? “Why should they? That’s my past,” she repeats.

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Kites Movie Posters

(This is dedicated to KiteRunner)

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Mission patch-up

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The cold war between Shah Rukh Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra is over. They were seen chatting and laughing during the meeting held between producers and multiplex owners on Wednesday. The war between producers-distributors and multiplex owners has … Read More

I rob the rich: Akshay Kumar

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Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar has a new name for himself – Robin Hood. In his latest blog post, Akki has likened himself to the famous Prince of Thieves because, according to him, he steals from the rich and distributes the spoils amongst the poor.

How has the man who is known to charge phenomenal fees for merely smiling at a function come to this conclusion? Read this excerpt and decode for yourself.

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Strike Over?

Nothing official yet, but the war between film producers and multiplex owners is finally over. The two warring parties have kissed and made-up.

Evidently, it was the producers who first blinked. An industry insider said, “The final settlement reads 50 per cent in the first week, 42.5 per cent in the second week and 35 per cent revenue in the third week for the producer of all films.” It may be recalled that the key demand by producers was a 50 per cent revenue share for all films for all weeks while the exhibitors wanted a performance-linked arrangement where the revenue split would depend on the audience response. As losses mounted for industries which are directly related to the film business, the strike also wreaked havoc on ancillary industries like television, media, home video, music, radio and news which are highly dependant on movie content. Time and again, the warring parties met at Yash Raj Studios, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s office and even five-star hotels to settle matters. But, even after several heated arguments, the multiplex owners had consented to offer 50 per cent in the first week, followed by 42.5 per cent and 32.5 per cent revenue during subsequent weeks after the release day. As for the producers, they had categorically said they would settle for no less than 50 per cent, 45 per cent and 40 per cent revenue. They too refused to budge.

The settlement was reached during a meeting on Wednesday night held at a Bandra five-star hotel. The meeting was attended by Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ronnie Screwvalla, Yash Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sunil Lulla and Amit Khanna (who represented the multiplexes) among others. As things stand today, films will start releasing in multiplexes from Friday, June 5.

Giving out additional information, a source said, “If the film does more than Rs 70 crore nett business, the multiplex will give 2 per cent extra revenue to the producers.”

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After India’s election – Good news: don’t waste it

Indian elections featured on the cover of the Economist and it carried this piece – the last paragraph is what is most important!

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13692881&CFID=61210550&CFTOKEN=81292017

The voters of the world’s biggest democracy have given their government a precious second chance

INDIA is a land of bright promise. It is also extremely poor. About 27m Indians will be born this year. Unless things improve, almost 2m of them will die before the next general election. Of the children who survive, more than 40% will be physically stunted by malnutrition. Most will enroll in a school, but they cannot count on their teachers showing up. After five years of classes, less than 60% will be able to read a short story and more than 60% will still be stumped by simple arithmetic.

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Saif’s bedroom ‘bang’

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Mumbai: Everybody knows how passionate actor Saif Ali Khan is about his music and he recently proved that he has a no-compromise attitude when it comes to jamming with his guitar for live stage performances.

After Hrs has learnt that the actor went the extra mile to rehearse for a show in which he had to play with ace rockers Parikrama. The Chote Nawab took special permissions from hotel officials in New Delhi, where he was staying while filming for his home production Love Aaj Kal, to convert his luxury suite into a full-fledged rehearsal studio that was equipped with guitars, amplifiers, woofers and mixers. Now, how many people can get this leverage?

An insider from the industry tipped us about this incident, “Saif was in Delhi recently to shoot and he was staying at the Maurya Sheraton, a hotel that he often frequents. During this time, he was supposed to do a stage show with Parikrama and though he had a hectic shooting schedule, he managed time to practise with the band. Saif is very finicky when it comes to performances.

Playing at a stage show meant that his sync with the band had to be ‘perfect’. He could not have goofed up in front of his fans.” The source adds, “Saif was making time between his shoot to practise but was determined to spend as much time as possible. So he contacted the hotel officials and got special permission to convert his hotel room into a music studio.”

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Happy New Year is very modern and contemporary: Farah Khan

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Mumbai: After paying tributes to the 70′s and 80′s of Bollywood in Om Shanti Om andMain Hoon Naa, director Farah Khan has set her next film Happy New Year in a “modern and contemporary” world.

“Happy New Year is not like my older films. It is a very modern film, very contemporary,” Farah said when asked whether her third film would also carry the nostalgia of the seventies like her past films.

The movie, which is being produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, will reunite the successful on screen pair of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone from Om Shanti Om.

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“I don’t do fake.” – SRK

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Nobody has the passion and heart to buy a stake in Kolkata Knight Riders,” declares Shah Rukh Khan, defying the claim made by mystery blogger Fake IPL Player that the star had found investors for the team. To HT City’s request to comment on Fake IPL Player, SRK simply replies, “I don’t do fake.”

When he returned from South Africa almost two weeks ago, Shah Rukh had sounded dejected over KKR’s performance. But his passion for his team and the game seems to have become even stronger. “You don’t need just money to run KKR — we have our wonderful sponsors for that — what you need is love, and in that department I am the king,” he states.

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Sizzling Bipasha and Dhoni in the new Reebok HexRide Commercial

Sizzling Bipasha and Dhoni in the new Reebok HexRide Commercial

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Deepika opposite Hrithik in Krrish-2

Mid-day

After the release of Kites, Rakesh Roshan will soon start working on Krrish 2. According to well-placed sources, the film is already in the scripting process, with a newer concept. It will feature Hrithik Roshan yet again and Deepika Padukone is being considered for the part of the leading lady.

Kites comes first

A source reveals, “After the success of Krrish, the Roshans decided to go ahead with the sequel of the movie. Their first priority was to finish with Kites and then work on Krrish 2. Kites is almost done and is in the post-production stage. Rakesh Roashan’s production house FilmKraft is working on Krrish 2. They are at an infant stage and still working on script and the star cast, but it obviously includes Hrithik as the actor.”

Saving Wonders

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Exclusive New Movie Posters Round 3….

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Seems like this is turning in to a weekly affair with my affection for Movie Posters. Since my initial post here and followup her

HISSSS: Jennifer Lynch and Mallika Sherawat? Why does this look like a B-grade horror film? Hmmm

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Triumph of the moderate- Arun Jaitley

The BJP’s tally in the Lok Sabha elections is below expectations. We had entered the 14th Lok Sabha with 138 MPs and we hoped to win 160 seats this time — an increase of 22 seats. Ironically, our tally was exactly 22 down to 116 seats. A thorough analysis of the 2009 verdict will take time but some messages the electorate wanted to deliver are absolutely clear.

The BJP contested the elections on predominantly three themes: the inability of the UPA government to take concrete and decisive steps in the management of the economy; the need to strengthen national security; and the importance of a strong and decisive leadership. All the three themes were directly linked to governance.

The results have demonstrated that there was a surge in favour of the Congress across the country. Even Congress supporters would have conceded that its past five years were wasted in indecision. The government didn’t live up to popular expectation in announcing decisive measures to fight the economic slowdown nor did it adopt measures to strengthen India’s security. Despite these glaring failures the Congress secured more votes and seats.

There was a larger central issue in the elections. Not only did we in the BJP fail to read it, even the Congress did not foresee it. This was the desire of the Indian voter to ensure politically stable government free from obstructions and roadblocks. The experience of the past five years had strengthened the resolve of the Indian voter to elect a government which is more decisive and is not prevented from acting merely because supporting allies are a hurdle in the decision-making process.

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NYT: Bollywood Dispute Affects Moviegoers in the USA

A surge at the box office has made this spring a surprisingly happy one for the movie business. And as the big summer films arrive, Americans are expected to pile into theaters in even greater numbers. Yet at one … Read More